Now, the first thing that's cool about Captain America: Super Soldier is that SEGA isn't just rehashing the flick. This is happening in the same World War II universe as the movie, but you won't see these exploits on the big screen and vice versa. I was told that the movie is an origin story, and the game fills in the gap between Cap toying around with his new powers and being the superhero we all know and love. When you pick up the controller, you're going to take Cap into his formative missions against Hydra and other world-threatening bad guys.

A third-person game, Super Soldier puts you in Cap's uniform and unleashes you on the enemy. The level I saw is the same demo that'll be at New York Comic-Con, and really serves as a "this is everything you can do in the game." Here, Cap's infiltrated Arnim Zola's castle. (Zola, of course, is a Nazi scientist in the comics and being played by Toby Jones in the upcoming movie.) Captain America is out in front of the incoming U.S. forces, and for the good guys to get in and stop Zola from sending weapons out, Cap's got to take out some AA guns and mop the floor with some henchmen.

It's definitely early -- the game's pre-alpha -- but watching it in action gave a pretty solid idea of where the title's going. Cap's equipped with strikes, grabs and counters, and of course, his shield is always on his back or arm and ready for a fight. Cap can block hits with it, ricochet bullets back at the folks firing them, or throw it at multiple baddies and watch it ping pong off of their heads.

For most of you reading this, it goes without saying that Captain America can't fly. If you didn't know that, the gist here is that Steve Rogers took some Super-Soldier Serum, had all of his athletic abilities maxed out, and threw on the red, white and blue outfit. That said, Cap uses his enhanced agility to leap and run from area to area. I'm sure that sounds lame, but in the game, it's all sorts of awesome. Cap can leap over enemies that are swinging at him and deliver devastating kidney punches from behind, he can pounce on downed foes and deliver a knockout blow when they're on the ground, and he can even mix in some Prince of Persia-style environment crossing when he wants.

It's easy to roll your eyes when you see Captain America start spinning around a pole that's jetting out of the wall like he's about to take on the Sands of Time, but when the moves chain together fluidly and he glides from one pole to the next and then grabs a vertical pipe with one hand to swing himself to a ledge, it's actually rather slick. Of course, making everything look natural will come down to the player's timing as he or she is making Cap pull off these feats, but that's beside the point.

And all of that is looking past the fact that Cap's mobility means he can kick off walls to deliver massive attacks. Cool.

Still, being able to move like a greased-up gymnast isn't Captain America's only ability. The game also gives you control of his Tactical Vision and Crippling Strike. If Tactical Vision sounds like Batman: Arkham Asylum's Detective Mode, that's because it is – SEGA freely admits this. Although the presentation of how this mode will be presented for players is still being decided, it's basically going to highlight keys objectives (like things you can interact with to move the level forward), point out threats and shed light on the game's oodles of collectables.

When you're fighting, a segmented meter is filling in with energy. Each complete segment represents a Crippling Strike. These are one-move knockouts that slowdown time and get presented to you in cinematic way. The one working during my demo had Cap throwing one devastating punch into the kisser of his foes, which shattered their little mouth guards and sent their ragdoll bodies flying into walls. The devs are looking into Crippling Throws for Cap's shield, but they weren't up and running yet.

Captain America slugged it out with these guys for a while, took out the AA guns, and then made it to a courtyard. Here, the sounds of thunderous footsteps were heard, a door was kicked in, and out stepped a massive robot with a TV screen for a belly. The camera framed the scene from behind the robot so that when the TV kicked on and bathed Cap in green light, we couldn't see who was asking our here if he was "surprised to see me?"

My money's on it being Zola… it is his castle after all.

My demo was brief and the game was far from finished, but Captain America: Super Soldier seems to have a lot going for it. I like the acrobatics, the Crippling Strikes and finally getting to use that shield like I've seen in so many comics. Graphically, the environments seemed a bit empty, but again, it's so early with this one – I'm not even allowed to talk about what Captain America's outfit looked like. Still, I can tell you that the cutscenes are rendered in-engine (i.e. the same character model you're playing as pops up in the in-game movies).

This game looks like a star-spangled knockoff of Batman: Arkham Asylum. And while I loved loved loved that game, this is Sega we're talking about. Not Rocksteady. Knockoffs, much like their definition, are never as good as the original.

I'll be passing.

(And this is from a die hard Shellhead/GL fan who still hasn't seen them done any justice.)

__________________Allumni of the Rigby Reardon School of Sleuthing"I wonder if there's beer on the sun..."

i wish this suit was the movie suit. also i played the wolverine game and it wasn't that good. maybe compared to other movie games it was good, but as a stand alone game it was just a button masher. the levels were tedious just run here and fight a group, then run here and fight a group. the older wolverine game with mark hammil as logan was better, you could stealth kill your way through the whole game. also jumping from jeeps and vehicles were just simple, uncharted 2 had way better vehicle jumping mechanics than wolverine. i think some people have selective memory when it comes to the wolverine game. it was not that good.

anyway back to this game, i hope this suit is the movie suit for modern times. this suit looks way better. i hope this game has some sort of counter system that way you can do throws and disarms. rather than just throw the shield and punch and kick. stealth mechanic would also be good. you could take out people like mgs

__________________
"fear should not exist in your mind, if you fear you will never accomplish anything"

I'm no defender of SEGA (they've put out some miserable movie-based games) but I don't think we can lay all of the blame on the developers. Movie studios tend to only give them about a year for the development cycle, which is about a whole year too short. You can always tell movie games that have longer cycles (Wolverine) and ones who rush it to market to meet studio demands (IM and IM2). The quality difference is staggering.

Given that Marvel seems bent on getting Cap and Thor's games out with the movie release, I don't hold out much hope for either.

I'm no defender of SEGA (they've put out some miserable movie-based games) but I don't think we can lay all of the blame on the developers. Movie studios tend to only give them about a year for the development cycle, which is about a whole year too short. You can always tell movie games that have longer cycles (Wolverine) and ones who rush it to market to meet studio demands (IM and IM2). The quality difference is staggering.

Given that Marvel seems bent on getting Cap and Thor's games out with the movie release, I don't hold out much hope for either.

Indeed, development cycle of any kind of product has a great impact on the quality of said product. The time allotted for such development is critical. And given the time constraints of the film properties always can hamper a game. Granted, given a bunch of time to make the game isn't always a recipe for success, but it greatly increases it's chances of not being a poor product.

__________________Allumni of the Rigby Reardon School of Sleuthing"I wonder if there's beer on the sun..."

Lately, Sega has put out some crappy titles for sure, but Sega has also put out some really awesome titles in the past, so I will try to remain positive.

One of my favorites was actually comic book related too, X-Men for Sega Genesis. I loved everything about this game from the cover art to the part where you get to Mojo and it tells you in order to diffuse the bomb you need to reset the system and you actually have to reset the Genesis system. Simply genius.

I also agree with aeamek. Movie production companies often do not give game developers enough time to produce good titles related to their movies, and this has been the case for many of Sega's recent superhero titles. I realize everyone equates Sega's titles to Rocksteady's Batman Arkham Asylum, but Arkham was not based on the story of the Dark Knight, therefore Rocksteady was able to take their time and really work out all of the details and refine the combat system. Don't get me wrong I love Arkham Asylum, but it's quality can not be compared to what Sega is putting out, when Rocksteady has not been given the same set of restrictions.

Just my thoughts.

Surfer

__________________

Wolvieboy17..... "It's slow and relelentless, like being beaten to death with a sponge."

The game looks like a high grade PS2 game. Honestly can't the spend time and give us quality?

Well the game is not completely done yet either, these are just early images and video. The game is probably set to release when the Movie comes out. So, they still have a while to polish things up.

Also, a side note. Everyone is kind of hard on Sega, but Sega was a leader 20 years ago, and without their direction, the future of gaming might not have been the same. Most games in the 80's and even very early 90's used sprites, there was only a handful of games that attempted polygons (the first being I, robot in 1983), but most were not very successful. However, Sega saw the value in this technology and revolutionized it with games like Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter. These games had vastly improved visuals in terms of polygon count, frame rate, and overall scene complexity, which all contributed to a greater sense of immersion. These 2 games went on to be very successful and other companies took notice. After Sega's success with these 2 titles, Polygon games became more common practice and eventually replaced the sprite technology as being the main way games are developed. So, when you play Rocksteady's Batman Arkham Asylum try to remember that Sega helped to make it possible.

Surfer

__________________

Wolvieboy17..... "It's slow and relelentless, like being beaten to death with a sponge."

Well the game is not completely done yet either, these are just early images and video. The game is probably set to release when the Movie comes out. So, they still have a while to polish things up.

Also, a side note. Everyone is kind of hard on Sega, but Sega was a leader 20 years ago, and without their direction, the future of gaming might not have been the same. Most games in the 80's and even very early 90's used sprites, there was only a handful of games that attempted polygons (the first being I, robot in 1983), but most were not very successful. However, Sega saw the value in this technology and revolutionized it with games like Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter. These games had vastly improved visuals in terms of polygon count, frame rate, and overall scene complexity, which all contributed to a greater sense of immersion. These 2 games went on to be very successful and other companies took notice. After Sega's success with these 2 titles, Polygon games became more common practice and eventually replaced the sprite technology as being the main way games are developed. So, when you play Rocksteady's Batman Arkham Asylum try to remember that Sega helped to make it possible.

Surfer

True, plus SEGA used to kick ass in making Superhero games. X-Men and X-Men 2: Clone Wars were far superior to the sh***y X-Men games Nintendo put out. The Spider-Man vs Kingpin game that they made was pure awesomeness.

And when it came to porting games SEGA ruled with an iron fist, the Captain America and the Avengers port on the Genesis was also FAR superior to the port the SNES and NES system put out. As were their ports for the Incredible Hulk, the Death and Return of Superman, Batman ('89) the Game. (Nintendo's ports always had bad controls, horrible music and sound fx)

Also, in fact most arcade ports SEGA put out were superior than what Nintendo did.

About the only port Nintendo did better than SEGA was the Batman Returns game.

True, plus SEGA used to kick ass in making Superhero games. X-Men and X-Men 2: Clone Wars were far superior to the sh***y X-Men games Nintendo put out. The Spider-Man vs Kingpin game that they made was pure awesomeness.

And when it came to porting games SEGA ruled with an iron fist, the Captain America and the Avengers port on the Genesis was also FAR superior to the port the SNES and NES system put out. As were their ports for the Incredible Hulk, the Death and Return of Superman, Batman ('89) the Game. (Nintendo's ports always had bad controls, horrible music and sound fx)

Also, in fact most arcade ports SEGA put out were superior than what Nintendo did.

About the only port Nintendo did better than SEGA was the Batman Returns game.

Man I miss those days.

I agree 100%. To most people Sega is all about what have you done lately, but as I posted earlier one of my favorites games was, X-Men by Sega for the Genesis. I loved everything about the game from the cover art to the part where you get to Mojo and it tells you in order to diffuse the bomb you need to reset the system and you actually have to reset the Genesis system. Simply genius. Also, Spiderman Vs. Kingpin another incredible title as you pointed out. Many people viewed the Saturn and Dreamcast as failure systems, but to anyone who played Capcom's Marvel Superhero's using a converter cartridge for Saturn, knew it was a far superior version to the Playstation crap they put out. As for the Dreamcast, Namco's Soul Calibur remained one of the most beautiful and well put together fighting titles for that generation of systems. Unfortunately, these systems did not meet with public success for whatever reason (perhaps lack of third party support), and I don't think Sega has been the same since. However, they were a power once and if they manage to pull off a few good titles they could be a power again in my opinion. Hopefully, Captain America will be one of those titles to help them return to their former glory.

Surfer

__________________

Wolvieboy17..... "It's slow and relelentless, like being beaten to death with a sponge."

I agree 100%. To most people Sega is all about what have you done lately, but as I posted earlier one of my favorites games was, X-Men by Sega for the Genesis. I loved everything about the game from the cover art to the part where you get to Mojo and it tells you in order to diffuse the bomb you need to reset the system and you actually have to reset the Genesis system. Simply genius. Also, Spiderman Vs. Kingpin another incredible title as you pointed out. Many people viewed the Saturn and Dreamcast as failure systems, but to anyone who played Capcom's Marvel Superhero's using a converter cartridge for Saturn, knew it was a far superior version to the Playstation crap they put out. As for the Dreamcast, Namco's Soul Calibur remained one of the most beautiful and well put together fighting titles for that generation of systems. Unfortunately, these systems did not meet with public success for whatever reason (perhaps lack of third party support), and I don't think Sega has been the same since. However, they were a power once and if they manage to pull off a few good titles they could be a power again in my opinion. Hopefully, Captain America will be one of those titles to help them return to their former glory.

Surfer

After Dreamcast and Sega's move to being simply a game developer, they changed into a different company. That's why we don't look back at those titles and hope for the best, because they are pretty awful now. They can't even do justice to the franchise that made them so popular(sonic) anymore, so it's hard to hold out hope that they'd do justice to marvel's various franchises.

i wish this suit was the movie suit. also i played the wolverine game and it wasn't that good. maybe compared to other movie games it was good, but as a stand alone game it was just a button masher. the levels were tedious just run here and fight a group, then run here and fight a group. the older wolverine game with mark hammil as logan was better, you could stealth kill your way through the whole game. also jumping from jeeps and vehicles were just simple, uncharted 2 had way better vehicle jumping mechanics than wolverine. i think some people have selective memory when it comes to the wolverine game. it was not that good.

I could not disagree more. I thought X2: Wolverine's Revenge sucked. Which is kind of ironic since the movie X2 was awesome and the movie X-Men Origins sucked. In fact, X-Men Origins: Wolverine was probably the first really good solo Wolverine game ever IMO.

__________________

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warren Ellis

Cyclops is the best superhero in the world. He is, as far as I'm concerned, the Batman. He's been in intensive training since his early teenage years to lead the first-ever mutant rescue and security team. This is a guy who gets up every morning asking himself how he can be better.

I agree 100%. To most people Sega is all about what have you done lately, but as I posted earlier one of my favorites games was, X-Men by Sega for the Genesis. I loved everything about the game from the cover art to the part where you get to Mojo and it tells you in order to diffuse the bomb you need to reset the system and you actually have to reset the Genesis system. Simply genius. Also, Spiderman Vs. Kingpin another incredible title as you pointed out. Many people viewed the Saturn and Dreamcast as failure systems, but to anyone who played Capcom's Marvel Superhero's using a converter cartridge for Saturn, knew it was a far superior version to the Playstation crap they put out. As for the Dreamcast, Namco's Soul Calibur remained one of the most beautiful and well put together fighting titles for that generation of systems. Unfortunately, these systems did not meet with public success for whatever reason (perhaps lack of third party support), and I don't think Sega has been the same since. However, they were a power once and if they manage to pull off a few good titles they could be a power again in my opinion. Hopefully, Captain America will be one of those titles to help them return to their former glory.

Surfer

Yep, I remember being stuck on the Mojo level until I read on a Game Pro magazine on how you had to manually reset the Genesis.

I also forgot to mention SEGA did something sort of revolutionary at the time when Magneto was a playable character for the second game, I know people may take it for granted now with the XML games and the MUA games but it was unheard of at the time.

After Dreamcast and Sega's move to being simply a game developer, they changed into a different company. That's why we don't look back at those titles and hope for the best, because they are pretty awful now. They can't even do justice to the franchise that made them so popular(sonic) anymore, so it's hard to hold out hope that they'd do justice to marvel's various franchises.

I agreed earlier that they have been putting out some pretty crappy titles lately, but just as things have changed for the worse, I believe there is always hope that things can change back in their favor. Also, I feel if they don't eventually get their act together they could be faced with becoming another Atari, but until such time I will try to remain positive.

Surfer

__________________

Wolvieboy17..... "It's slow and relelentless, like being beaten to death with a sponge."

I think that might just be an extra 'skin' for the game. Marvel probably doesn't wanna let Sega unveil what Chris's final movie suit looks like yet. But I like being given the option to play as Cap with his comics suit.

__________________"On Olympus, we measure wisdom against Athena...speed against Hermes...power against Zeus. But we measure courage...against Captain America."

I think that might just be an extra 'skin' for the game. Marvel probably doesn't wanna let Sega unveil what Chris's final movie suit looks like yet. But I like being given the option to play as Cap with his comics suit.

That's what I was thinking too.

__________________

"The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities." -- Art.2 Treaty on European Union